Carbon steel care, olive or fretboard oil

R

RidingDutchman

Joined
Nov 9, 2018
Messages
6
Hello all,
Today I got myself a Damascus hunting knife and I was wondering something about proper maintenance.
The previous owner told me he oiled it monthly with olive oil, though online I have heard complaints about using that.
I hear people recommending mineral oil. I have a bottle of Dunlop 65 guitar fretboard oil which claims to be mineral oil as well, would this be a usable alternative?

I also know a carbon knife can rust in a leather sheath. How long can you store it inside one safely? I'm a bit scared I'll ruin the finish
 
I keep almost all my knives in their sheaths (lots of them leather), the only one that rusted was O1 and it wasn't bad. I put them away dry but also live in a dry climate, no real problems in the last 15+ years.
 
Mineral oil. If your using the knife with food, than make sure the fret board oil is food safe. If not using it, it should be just fine.

Olive oil will go rancid. I can see if he replaced it often it would probably be fine. But ehh.

There's alot of other stuff you could use too. If it's long term storage use Ren wax.

I dunno about sheaths. I only use plastic sheaths myself.
 
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Another vote for mineral oil. Or royal purple 22 weight white oil. It's a little lighter than mineral oil and is food grade safe. It's all I use with not problem.
 
Mo2 said:
Mineral oil. If your using the knife with food, than make sure the fret board oil is food safe. If not using it, it should be just fine.

Olive oil will go rancid. I can see if he replaced it often it would probably be fine. But ehh.

There's alot of other stuff you could use too. If it's long term storage use Ren wax.

I dunno about sheaths. I only use plastic sheaths myself.
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Do you have any idea if I could use that Dunlop 65 for it considering that is apparently mineral oil as well? I'd rather use something I have laying around compared to cluttering up my way too tiny appartment even more
 
If you don't care about cutting food with it, then it would be fine. Some mineral oils do contain stuff that you don't want to be consuming a lot. You decide if that's going to be a problem.
As far as in/out of the sheath. If it seems that the sheath touches the blade a lot, then the sheath will absorb the oil, and could cause you problems if you live in a high humidity environment. If you don't, then its less of a problem, and you can keep the knife in the sheath. Most leathers are not super reactive, the tanning methods are a lot better than they used to be. Though there will always be that one sheath that is the exception.
 
RidingDutchman said:
Do you have any idea if I could use that Dunlop 65 for it considering that is apparently mineral oil as well? I'd rather use something I have laying around compared to cluttering up my way too tiny appartment even more
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I couldn't find out what else is in the stuff... But seems fine for wood guitars. So it will likely work fine on your knife to stave off corrosion on carbon steel.

I would only suggest that if you use the knife to cut food you were going to be eating, to use something you know is specifically food safe. And I don't see that on the bottle of Dunlop 65 I seen on the web.

It says it's a cleaner and polisher. And no doubt it's probably mineral oil based. But I dunno if there's more in it that would be not be consumption approved. You can email Dunlop and find out more info, maybe they have a msds form they can provide you.

I dunno your purpose of this knife. If your gonna skin an animal or chop up some apples, store it in a safe place to collect or whatever else. Let alone the composition of Dunlop 65. If I had some, I would personally try it out to fight off corrosion on my users, but not the ones I use for food.

Most oil is not good for leather and mineral oil is also bad for leather from what im reading. But pure Neatsfoot and mink oil supposedly really good for leather.

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/corrosion-from-leather-sheath.957283/#post-10885249
Old thread where one guy melts wax in his leather sheath to help protect it. So-Seal, beeswax, parifin wax etc should all work.
 
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I realize that you would prefer not to clutter up your space with additional products, but I find a mix of beeswax and mineral oil works great on my carbon steel blades. The beeswax tends to stay on the blade and will protect it from rust. I usually mix it up by melting about 3oz of beeswax in a large mouthed 1 cup mason jar. Once that is melted, add laxitive mineral oil until the level is just under the threads of the jar. Mix thoroughly. Once cooled, it makes a paste you can use like auto wax. Food safe and great on wood too. Some of my carbon steel blades will sit for months in leather sheaths between uses and I have not had any trouble with rust in my mildly humid environment.
 
For whatever it's worth, the MSDS for your oil says:

Section 2 - Composition and Information on Ingredients

MATERIALS WT% TLV PEL CAS#
White Mineral Oils >90% 5 mg/m3 5 mg/m3® 8042-47-5

Section 3 – Hazard Identification Emergency Overview:
This product is not expected to produce any unusually hazards during normal use. Primary Route(s) of Entry for Particulate: Inhalation: YES Skin: YES Ingestion: NO Other: NO Potential Health Effects of Overexposure (ACUTE & CHRONIC): Eyes: Can cause severe irritation, redness, tearing, and blurred vision. Skin: Prolonged or repeated exposure can cause moderate irritation, defatting of the skin or dermatitis Inhalation: Fine mist may cause irritation to nose and throat Ingestion: Unlikely to occur, but if ingested/swallowed may cause gastric disturbances, nausea, vomiting and signs of nervous system depression.

:eek:
 
Ace Rimmer said:
For whatever it's worth, the MSDS for your oil says:

Section 2 - Composition and Information on Ingredients

MATERIALS WT% TLV PEL CAS#
White Mineral Oils >90% 5 mg/m3 5 mg/m3® 8042-47-5

Section 3 – Hazard Identification Emergency Overview:
This product is not expected to produce any unusually hazards during normal use. Primary Route(s) of Entry for Particulate: Inhalation: YES Skin: YES Ingestion: NO Other: NO Potential Health Effects of Overexposure (ACUTE & CHRONIC): Eyes: Can cause severe irritation, redness, tearing, and blurred vision. Skin: Prolonged or repeated exposure can cause moderate irritation, defatting of the skin or dermatitis Inhalation: Fine mist may cause irritation to nose and throat Ingestion: Unlikely to occur, but if ingested/swallowed may cause gastric disturbances, nausea, vomiting and signs of nervous system depression.

:eek:
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Mineral oil usp is a laxative. You also don't take much of it for that purpose. And taking to much will indeed give those symptoms.

There are a couple types of mineral oil too. Food grade usp. regular mineral oil which iirc is more refined, not food safe? and baby oil which is usp with fragrance, I forget, don't quote me on this. ?
 
Food grade mineral oil is readily available at any pharmacy. It is sold as a laxative for as little as $2 per pint, with a recommended dose of 1 to 3 tablespoons per day. A pint will likely provide a lifetime of blade corrosion inhibition without any toxicity concerns.

Another option is Frog Lube paste, which is reportedly coconut oil scented with wintergreen. A more affordable option is just use coconut oil from your grocery, which also makes a great coffee additive.
 
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Take the sheath apart and melt in 2-3 coats of SnowSeal, then restitch it. That will keep it from absorbing moisture. Wipe the blade down with Vaseline of BreakFree CLP or Remwax or any other rust preventive if you need to store it. Otherwise, just wipe it dry.
 
Dude, just buy some mineral oil and save the fretboard oil for your guitars. I don’t see one bottle cluttering up your apartment, even if it’s tiny. Plus, one bottle will last you forever if all you’re using it for is your knives.

Either that or risk what that oil you have does to you when you eat it.
 
AntDog said:
Dude, just buy some mineral oil and save the fretboard oil for your guitars. I don’t see one bottle cluttering up your apartment, even if it’s tiny. Plus, one bottle will last you forever if all you’re using it for is your knives.

Either that or risk what that oil you have does to you when you eat it.
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domiro said:
Another +1 for mineral oil. Breakfree CLP is another good product to use.
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The problem with mineral oil is that I can't find it at my local stores. Only in 5 liter (over a gallon) bottles. Turns out that it isn't very common in the Netherlands.

For now I have returned to olive oil to at least not poison myself.
The fretboard oil does make an exceptional care product for untreated wooden handles.
 
Olive oil goes rancid. It should work fine to protect the knife, just wash it off before cutting any food. Wash, dry, Reapply the oil once you’re done.
 
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